Imagine the world in 30 years. What would you see? Maybe you'd see the fantastical visions of science-fiction writers like Ray Bradbury. But what would you really see? Read more to find out.
Science fiction usually portrays the future in one of three ways: a horrible dystopia where the government is corrupt/run by an artificial intelligence, a post apocalyptic society built on the remains of the past destroyed world, or a utopia that has some sort of underlying malicious intentions. Are any of these accurate?
According to many futurists, none of these are wholly what lies in our future.
Let's start with the utopia. While it is likely that if the human race were to be united under one leader, everyone would benefit, large scale science and engineering breakthroughs would occur more frequently, less wars would be fought (if any), and the race would make significant progress. However, with the existence of many different religions, this is important to highlight as a single religion would not conflict with itself, while several religions all following the same governmental body most likely would cause some unrest, and the human sense of pride and individuality would lead to the single race leader (note that I did not say "world" because interplanetary travel could be commonplace) not being a feasible solution. All the different cultures, ethicities, and religions would not be willing to mesh into one large group. This would be because they do not all share the same morals and principles.
So what about the horrible dystopia? Well, it is possible that some places would suffer an increase in crime rate due to inflation and increasing population and would require strict monitoring by a forceful hand of the law. Since crime is more common in slums and poverty-stricken areas, these areas would be controlled and monitored heavily by law enforcement agents, military personnel, cameras, or autonomous drones. This could be an interpretation of the dystopian military controlled future that awaits us. However, this would most likely not happen everywhere. The governments of the world would only spend the funding on the locations with a high potential for crime.
Maybe there was a massive war, and the world has crumbled underneath new weapons of mass destruction. Maybe not. The United Nations has passed a bill that states that weapons of mass destruction are forbidden as they cause "unnecessary suffering and damage." If a country is to use or produce a weapon of mass destruction, that country will receive severe punishment and will most likely be targeted for the use of their own weapon against them. If this were to happen, yes, the result would be total destruction of a country and residents would flee from the areas that are targeted. This would be the apocalypse for everyone involved. Except it would not be. First is the issue that the country that fired the first weapon would be immediately assaulted by equal or stronger weaponry, ensuring mutual mass destruction. No country is willing to be destroyed just to make a point of something, therefore the use would be improbable at best. The second issue with this is that the residents would flee and be evacuated to another country. Even if it was an apocalypse for a country or region of the world, all those who are part of it would leave, and they would go somewhere else to try to resume a normal life. Unless the world was wiped out by a natural disaster or cosmic disaster, the apocalypse would be fairly short lived as you would have a chance to leave and go back to your life.
So what is going to happen? Futurists and realists have come together and somewhat agree that the future of humanity is something akin to what the world is like today, but with improved technology. Are they right? Well, somewhat, yes. Within a decade, several companies like SpaceX plan to have visited Mars at least once. SpaceX is actually taking applications and volunteers for the first manned trip to the red planet. The first few voyages would be dangerous and risky. Not many people are likely to wish to risk their lives for the unknown. There are brave souls out there though. People like Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, and ancient Nordic adventurers have all gone out into the unknown with a large crew, not entirely sure what they will see. This is happening again, but this time in space. Once we have established some sort of habitat on Mars and at least five journeys have taken place, it will be significantly safer as most of the kinks and issues will have been worked out.
In 30 years, the Human Race will be interplanetary. Within 30 years, a new generation of people will be born and will be living on the planet Mars. This generation will be the first true Martian-born humans. Science and technology will have progressed so far to the point that you can go buy a ticket, hop on a rocket, and leave the planet just like you can do with an airliner. All of this will take time though. Roughly 30 years, if the estimations are correct. In ten years, we will have the first steps on the new planet. In 20, space travel will be standard practice. In 30 years, space travel and interplanetary living will be commonplace.
So what do you think? Do you agree with these ideas or not? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to follow to stay up to date on the latest science and technology news.
No comments:
Post a Comment